Demography & Epidemiology Committee

Scope

The Demography and Epidemiology committee of the Actuarial Society of South Africa aims to assist the profession and society in assessing and addressing the impact of HIV and other diseases in South Africa. The committee develops and maintains AIDS and demographic models and provides advice on the application of these models. The committee is currently revising its HIV and demographic subpopulation model.

To assist policymakers to understand the implications of decisions by using the AIDS models

Background to the Demography & Epidemiology Committee

The ASSA Demography & Epidemiology committee was set up in 1987 to assist various stakeholders in estimating the impact of the HIV epidemic on South Africa. Realistic current and future estimates of the HIV epidemic’s impact inform strategic decisions for business and policy. At that stage, discussions included “doomsday” scenarios for insurers with concerns of inadequate reserves. Fortunately, people like Peter Doyle took the initiative by visiting hospitals and gathering patient records of early cases of HIV infection and set about to build a model of projecting various estimates of the national HIV epidemic. He collaborated with others to develop the first demographic model of the national epidemic and later released it in 1989.

An outline of the Modelling of the HIV and AIDS epidemic by actuaries in South Africa is given on the AIDS Models page. Please click here if you have been assigned a login for this page: AIDS Models

All models and data are used at the user’s own discretion and the user have the responsibility to check that the application of the model is appropriate. The Actuarial Society of South Africa do not take responsibility for errors or omissions in the models.